Monday, September 22, 2008

Everyone has needs in their lives. Each individual's needs varies at different phases of their lives. There is a commonly agreed upon model to classify our needs, to understand how one move from one level of needs to another.

This model is typically applied to life. But it can generally be narrowed and broken down to apply to any social circle. In this case, I felt that the diagram and model can very well be used to explain the needs in Cheerleading too. Only when one level of needs are fulfilled before one will move on to the next level.

In Cheerleading terms:

1. "Biological and Physiological needs" - In cheerleading aspect, our basic needs first is to learn the basics, have the strength and conditoning, and then be familiar with all the elements of cheerleading, such as tumbling, stunting, jumps, cheer and chants, arm motions, dance.

2. "Safety needs" - Once we satisfy the needs in (1), we can move on to the next level of needs, (2). In cheerleading, the moment we start doing anything, safety will come into the picture. There is always a need for safety. Only when we know that we are safe, that we can proceed on.

3. "Belongingness and Love needs" - In every society or community that we are in, love and belongingness is very important. One may join the cheerleading squad knowing no one else, but we will always seek out others to make friends and form a bond. In cheerleading, this is a very important need. If one does not feel the sense of belonging in the team, one will not be able to stay long, despite having level (1) and (2) needs.

4. "Esteem needs" - Once we have fulfilled level (1) to (3) of needs, once we feel a strong sense of identity with the team, have a good bonding with our teammates, we will feel very comfortable. This is when we will want to fulfil our next need, "Esteem". We would want to be able to get some achievement and status. We will look to improve our skills and also go for some leadership or management role in the team. Reputation and respect are also very key in the cheerleading circle.

5. "Cognitive needs" - We will want to be able to know through understanding. To know how do our stunts, or skills with understanding. We will want to explore the unknowns. For intstane, trying out new transitions, or understanding the stunt, other then just doing it.

6. "Aesthetic needs" - Soon when we are equiped with a particular stunt, say a single liberty, we will want more. We will want to do it nice and make it look easy, instead of being very wobbly. The same applies to pyramids, tosses and gymnastics. One may know how to do a BHS, but one will seek to beautify it, make it look better.

7. "Self-Actualization needs" - As the definetion speaks for it self, realising personal potential, self-fulfillment, seeking personal growth and peak experiences. This is where one puts together all the above needs and bring it to the pinnacle, looking forward to greater things. One will start to see problems as challenges. One will start to have their own unique view of things.

8. "Transcendence needs" - When one has almost everything, there will be a need to share his knowledge with others. At this stage, one has see past all "material" wants. One will be very open minded, very much "enlightened" and no longer needs to prove anything to anyone. One has been through every stage of cheerleading life, winning and losing, the pain and the joy. One will be helping others to achieve self actualization.

So at which stage of needs are you currently at? How many levels of needs have you satisfied? At which level of cheerleading are you talking in terms of, basic level, pro level, or elite level? These are questions that you may like to ask yourself. A person's success can often also be measured by which level of needs one is at.

For more in-depth and detailed readings on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, go to:http://www.businessballs.com/maslow.htmhttp://chiron.valdosta.edu/whuitt/col/regsys/maslow.html

Thursday, September 18, 2008

I used to tell myself that I will only try Rewind after I master Full up, Full Around, Tick Tock and Pop Over. Now that I can do Full up, Full Around and Tick Tock, though not to mastery yet, I am left with Pop Over.

However, I want to reset my target. Even after mastering all 4 of these skills, I think I am still too WEAK to do Rewind. No doubt I can try, but I think I still need much more physical strength. I am still too weak. The learning curve is steep now, but it is slowly beginning to plateau. Its time to work hard, running on "flat ground", towards the "new slope". Lets hope I can finish the flat road as soon as possible.

My trainer said that my mind is weak. Give me the mental strength I need. First I have to master my mind first, before I can master my body.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Friday, September 12, 2008

I took some time to read through my old posts in the past. I realised that as I read, I am very inspired by my own posts. It brought back some things which I had overlooked now and then.

I also realised the changes that took placed from back then till now, in terms of stunting and thinking. It felt refreshing to go through your archives. Everyone should do that once in a while, to see how you have changed over the period.

Feeling much motivated now, by my own posts I wrote in the past. Hmm, maybe I shall go look through my videos in the past too when I have the time...

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

A blind boy sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet. He held up a sign which said: 'I am blind, please help.' There were only a few coins in the hat.

A man was walking by. He took a few coins from his pocket and dropped them into the hat. He then took the sign, turned it around, and wrote some words. He put the sign back so that everyone who walked by would see the new words.

Soon the hat began to fill up. A lot more people were giving money to the blind boy. That afternoon the man who had changed the sign came to see how things were. The boy recognized his footsteps and asked, 'Were you the one who changed my sign this morning? What did you write?'

The man said, 'I only wrote the truth. I said what you said but in a different way.' What he had written was: 'Today is a beautiful day and I cannot see it.'

Do you think the first sign and the second sign were saying the same thing?

Of course both signs told people the boy was blind. But the first sign simply said the boy was blind. The second sign told people they were so lucky that they were not blind. Should we be surprised that the second sign was more effective?

Moral of the Story: Be thankful for what you have. Be creative. Be innovative. Think differently and positively.

Invite others towards good with wisdom. Live life with no excuse and love with no regrets. When life gives you a 100 reasons to cry, show life that you have 1000 reasons to smile. Face your past without regret. Handle your present with confidence. Prepare for the future without fear. Keep the faith and drop the fear.

Great men say, 'Life has to be an incessant process of repair and reconstruction, of discarding evil and developing goodness. In the journey of life, if you want to travel without fear, you must have the ticket of a good conscience.'

The most beautiful thing is to see a person smiling!! And even more beautiful is, knowing that you are the reason behind it!

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

It has been about 2 weeks since I hired my personal trainer to train me. I have to say that she is indeed pushing me hard, and it is showing results. In the last 2 weeks, admist other trainings, I ran 10 rounds on the track TWICE, after about like 1 year of not running at all. Though this may be very little to alot of guys out there, but to me, it is indeed an achievement.

I have to say that my knee now hurts much less when I am doing stunts, it is most likely due to the strengthing of my leg muscles from the run. My legs used to be too weak for my body weight. The conditioning helps alot. Other then this, my endurance and strength also improve somewhat from all the weights training. My body feels new again, like it was re-born, pain start to go away and strength starts to gather.

Now with less pain coming from my knees, I can get more blast from it, and with more strength, I am able to stablise my stunts more.

Below is a little result from my physical training to keep me motivated to train even more. It shows hard work can indeed bring about improvements.